Ted, Steve. Hmmm..good food for thought. I gave them a super of drawn foundation and the second box with foundation only.
I checked for the queen laying last week, about Wednesday, maybe Thursday (5 days after swarm I caught on the Saturday). I didn't even see the queen. I looked again the next day, didn't see the queen, but the hive was so calm, I am sure she was hiding. I will be checking closely today, if weather permits. It is cloudy and we could have some rain, rats, we don't really need rain yet. Had lots two days ago.
I will check for sure to ensure the brood nest is not full of sugar syrup and I will see what they are doing with all this sugar syrup. They may be using it for energy mostly for drawing comb, but then, maybe they are just storing it, we'll see. Have a wonderful day, lovin' this life we're livin'. Cindi